Two movies released the past couple of months are worthy of note not just because they deal with lawyers in solo practice but because they have important lessons to teach about what some folks still lamentably consider oxymoronic, ‘legal ethics.’

And fortunately, while you should always take cinematic versions of lawyers with a Lincoln Town Car-size grain of salt, “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Win Win” are nevertheless worthwhile entertainment.

Indeed, I easily envision that segments of “The Lincoln Lawyer” will quickly make the rounds of those popular continuing legal education programs that use movie clips to teach ethics. Matthew McConaughey as criminal defense lawyer Mickey Haller plays fast and loose with his Lincoln Town Car-based law practice. And predictably, Haller soon finds himself neck-deep in ethically challenged waters. He faces serious issues of attorney-client privilege, diligence, competence, and conflict of interest.

But the more interesting, thought-provoking, emotionally authentic, and topically strong film is Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win“ starring Paul Giamatti as struggling small town solo lawyer Mike Flaherty. The story by Joe Tiboni and Thomas McCarthy rings true and will resonate with legions of recession-weary, economically struggling and striving lawyers around the country.

Like all of us, Mike Flaherty has his share of flaws and foibles. His law practice is going down the proverbial tubes. He coaches a losing high school wrestling team and has a wife and two daughters and the kind of stress that comes from constantly worrying about paying his bills and providing for his young family.

Things are so bad for Flaherty that he not only dodges calling the tree service to take out the dead tree in his front yard but more significantly, he can’t make his family’s health insurance payment or fix the ominously clanging boiler in the basement of his sad-sack law office.

And so with twigs and no buds on his existing client files and his economic back to the wall, he momentarily shelves his ethics and takes what he thinks is an easy way out. He’s so financially hard-up that he lies to the court and to his elderly and wealthy client, Leo Poplar, by volunteering for a guardianship appointment under a false pretext.

He tells the judge that he will keep Leo, who has mild dementia, in his home like he wants. But it quickly becomes apparent that Flaherty took the appointment not to help Leo but to help himself. He desperately needs the $1500 monthly guardianship fee to keep the economic wheels from coming off. No sooner does he become Leo’s guardian that after lying to him, he promptly dumps him off at an assisted living home.

When Leo’s teenage grandson, talented high school wrestler Kyle Timmons, shows up, things get even more interesting. The result is pathos, humor, conflict, and what happens when the choices we make threaten to pin us to the mat, left only to wait for the saving bell of personal responsibility.